[nagdu] Need Advice About Allergic Coworker

[Alysha]

Hello,
I was hoping some of you might have some suggestions for me about how to deal with an issue I've been having with a coworker who is allergic to my seeing eye dog Hammar. I've been at this job for about 6 months now, and I was originally assigned to work in his lab. He first mentioned that he was having problems with allergies after about a week, and I moved to another lab. Everything was fine until about a month ago, but one day I forgot and brought Hammar into his lab. He complained about having an allergic reaction that night, and he took 2 or 3 days of sick leave because of it. My supervisor (who I think feels terrible about the whole thing) reminded me to keep Hammar out of his lab, and I apologized and said that I had no problem doing that as long as he wasn't restricted in other areas of the building. After that, my coworker has repeatedly mentioned having reactions to Hammar from being in common spaces (break room, conference room, etc.) where Hammar has also spent time. Now I'm worried that I might be prevented from bringing my dog to areas of the building where I commonly have meetings and eat lunch. The kicker is that neither I or anyone I've talked to have ever once seen this man sneeze, have red or swollen eyes, blow his nose, or wheeze, and all of his reactions seem to happen once he's at home and away from the source of the allergy. I was told by another coworker that he said he almost had to go to the emergency room because of his allergies, but that a fever was one of his symptoms. As far as I know, fevers aren't caused by allergies. At the time of this reaction, almost everyone in the office had been sick with fevers and colds. He has apparently had breathing problems at home, but he's a chain smoker. I have heard him complain once at work of itching, but that's it. So maybe my dog is part of his problem, but his reactions could definitely be caused by something else as well.

I'm wondering what I should do in this tricky situation? I'm really not OK with having to leave Hammar in my lab the entire time I'm at work, especially if the allergy complaint isn't actually legitimate. I suggested to my supervisor that we have a cleaning crew come to the break/conference room more often to vacuum (which really needs to happen allergies or no allergies), and I'm also going to suggest we add a HEPA filter there to help keep dander out of the air. I groom Hammar an absolute minimum of every other day, and I always sit in the same place for meetings and lunch. But any thoughts on what my rights are or what I should do if my coworker isn't happy with these solutions?

Thanks,
Alysha